Chapter 256: Blood Spear Detective

Li Banfeng lay in his residence for most of the day, finally recovering. During that time, Turntable held him tightly.

This was why Li Banfeng had returned to his residence; he knew that after an attack, he might completely lose control. With his double-fifth-layer cultivation, if he were to unleash himself, no one in the entire inn would survive. Fortunately, his wife was still able to restrain him.

He sat on the edge of the bed and calmly asked Turntable, "My dear, there's a technique where if you push someone, they fly away. It can make both oneself and others fly. What is this technique called?"

Li Banfeng's speech was somewhat unclear and a bit muddled. Turntable gently soothed him, "My dear husband, why do you ask this?"

"It's my enemy's technique! I'm going to get my revenge on him!" Li Banfeng stood up to leave, but Turntable held him back.

"My dear, you can't go."

"Why not!" Li Banfeng truly wanted to return to Outer State now to get clear answers.

Hong Ying sneered, "What you just mentioned is the Nine-Layer Journey Cultivation technique, 'One Separation, Ten Thousand Miles.' If your enemy is a nine-layer Journey Cultivator, how could you possibly be his match with your current cultivation? Wouldn't going there just be seeking death?"

A nine-layer technique. He Jiaqing was at the ninth level. If he had ninth-level cultivation, he absolutely would not have been injured by Lu Xiaolan. So why did he ask me to call him? And why did he appear on my dorm room bed? Was it just to drag me into this? What good would dragging me into this do him?

The Copper Lotus. The Copper Lotus was hidden in the campus supermarket, concealed using my face. He wanted me to guard the Copper Lotus for him. He asked me to call him, and because of that call, Lu Xiaolan got her hooks into my phone. Lu Xiaolan, to save herself, would inevitably contact me to go to Puro State. And she also wanted the Copper Lotus, which meant she would use me to bring the Copper Lotus back to Puro State. He calculated that I would bring the Copper Lotus to the He family mansion.

How did he know I would be able to defeat Lu Xiaolan? Why did he have such confidence in me? What if I couldn't defeat Lu Xiaolan? Wouldn't the Lotus then fall into Lu Xiaolan's hands? What if Lu Xiaolan successfully escaped, and I was trapped and couldn't get out of the He family's old residence? What if I was trapped and died there?

After a moment of thought, Li Banfeng understood. He Jiaqing didn't know if I could defeat Lu Xiaolan, but it wasn't important to him. It didn't matter to him whether I or Lu Xiaolan lived or died; what mattered was that the Red Lotus had been brought back to Puro State.

But why did he use me to bring it back? At that time, I was just a naive young man. With his ninth-level cultivation, why didn't he bring such an important item back himself?

Li Banfeng still couldn't figure out He Jiaqing's true intentions, but some subsequent events became clearer. The most important of these was the matter of the Ling family. Given the Ling family's high status, their constant targeting of me made no sense from their perspective alone. But if He Jiaqing was behind them, the situation suddenly made much more sense. He wanted to retrieve the Profound Life Red Lotus. He had me bring it back then, and now he wants to retrieve it himself. What exactly is his intention here?

Li Banfeng brought the Red Lotus to the main house and spoke softly, "A-Lian, I want to ask you something. What plan do you and He Jiaqing have? Why couldn't the two of you return to Puro State together?"

The Red Lotus made no sound.

Li Banfeng turned to Turntable and asked, "My dear wife, did A-Lian say anything?"

"Oh, my dear husband, that wretched woman didn't say a word, but this little slave does have a question: who exactly is He Jiaqing?"

"Oh, my dear wife, He Jiaqing is my good friend. He said I was his only good friend. Now I find he seems to have schemed against me, and you wouldn't know what it feels like to be schemed against by a good friend!"

Turntable pondered for a moment and said nothing.

Hong Ying said furiously, "Faithless man, if you have something to say, just say it directly. Don't beat around the bush!"

Li Banfeng ignored Hong Ying and continued to caress the Red Lotus. "You don't want to say it, do you? It's fine, we have a long life ahead of us. If you don't say it today, you'll have to say it sooner or later!"

After resting for half a day in the residence, Li Banfeng's mood improved. He had to make himself feel better. Being schemed against was already painful enough; getting angry about it would only mean suffering a total loss. He couldn't be miserable. He had to smile. He had to find some fun.

Li Banfeng strolled around Guangming Town, treating it as a form of cultivation. When he reached the town center, he saw a crowd gathered in front of a Western-style building. He thought there might be some good promotions, but as he drew closer, he realized it was a group of people buying movie tickets. Guangming Town had a cinema, but why were so many people here to watch a movie?

A movie ticket cost five Huanguo bills. Given the consumption levels in Puro State, this was not cheap. Even in Lushui City, watching a movie was considered a rather luxurious expense for ordinary families. The number of people here today almost rivaled Yuezhou City's Spring Festival box office.

Li Banfeng approached and saw two posters hanging in front of the cinema. Movie posters in Puro State differed from those in Outer State; instead of large photographs, they featured Puro State's unique poster art.

On one poster, there was a man's back, holding a short knife, walking alone in the wind. In front of him was a bloodstain, and several grim-faced people seemed to be discussing some conspiracy. On the right side of the poster were four large characters: *Blood Blade Detective*.

Li Banfeng looked at the other poster. It also depicted a man walking alone among flowers, where several women with slightly flushed faces were casting eager glances at him. In the center of the poster were four large characters: *Blood Gun Detective*.

*Blood Blade Detective* was produced by Ling Family Pictures. Li Banfeng had once been to the filming site and even set the film reels on fire. Zhou Changhong had said on the train that this movie needed to be finished quickly. Li Banfeng had thought this was Zhou Changhong's trick to lure him off the train in Wuqin Village. But now, it seemed Zhou Changhong had been serious! A total of ten major films, and they were finished so quickly?

The other film, *Blood Gun Detective*, was clearly made by Ma Wu. Ma Wu was fast; he managed to quickly produce a film in such a short time. Ma Wu did a good job. This film would upset Ling Miaoying, and He Jiaqing, who was behind Ling Miaoying, would also be upset. But to what extent? He had to see! Li Banfeng had invested in Ma Wu's film! He needed to compare them. Li Banfeng called Xiao Yeci and their group, buying two movie tickets for each person.

First, they watched *Blood Blade Detective*, made by the Ling family. The cinema was quite large, with two floors. Li Banfeng's tickets were all upstairs, and everyone sat together. Before the show began, a melon seed vendor came by, and Li Banfeng bought a pack for everyone. After a while, the soda vendor also arrived. Li Banfeng told everyone, "Pick whatever flavor you like." Some chose orange, others chose cantaloupe. Xiao Yeci knew the rules and reminded the others, "I'm telling you, after you finish your soda, don't just throw the bottles away. You get money back for them."

They waited a while longer, and the cinema was about sixty percent full. Two attendants drew the curtains on both sides and extinguished all the gas lamps. A young man carried two large boxes of film to the projection room, and the movie began.

*Blood Blade Detective* was one hour and eight minutes long. It told the story of Detective Liang Chunjie, who, while investigating a murder case, faced repeated obstructions from Lu Guina, the leader of a mysterious organization. After a fierce struggle, he gradually uncovered the truth. The male lead was played by the star Sheng Xijun; Zhou Changhong indeed did not participate. The female lead was still Xiao Xiufi. In this film, the relationship between Xiao Xiufi and the male lead was superficially ambiguous but secretly adversarial, and the plot depicted this with great subtlety. In Puro State's film industry, Ling Miaoying was a leading figure, and the film's scope and pace were very well controlled. The movie's ending did not reveal the true killer. Detective Liang Chunjie fell into a trap, surrounded by members of the mysterious organization, his fate uncertain, leaving the audience wanting more. This was Ling Miaoying's arrangement, a suspenseful setup for the second film.

As for Li Banfeng, he quite liked the film. But the people around him were somewhat dissatisfied.

One audience member said, "What kind of movie is this? The ending isn't clear at all. It's so confusing."

Another audience member said, "Isn't it to see Xiao Xiufi? They said her performance this time was very deep."

"What depth? All I saw was her back throughout the whole film, nothing else."

"This one's the back; the next one will have the front!"

"Watch the next one? I don't think it's very interesting."

"The tickets are free anyway, just watch it. Why bother complaining so much?"

Hearing this, Li Banfeng became unsettled. He turned to the audience members behind him. "Your tickets were free?"

The audience member looked surprised. "You mean you bought yours?"

"I really bought them!" Li Banfeng was annoyed. "Aren't you just taking advantage of an outsider?"

Someone nearby advised, "Brother, don't get angry. These tickets aren't exactly free. Is this your first time watching a movie here? You have to have watched three movies at this cinema within a month, using the ticket stubs, to redeem one *Blood Blade Detective* ticket. This was a rule the cinema had just introduced this month."

Li Banfeng understood. This *Blood Blade Detective* had actually become a freebie in the cinema's promotional activities. Or perhaps it was a special marketing strategy.

"Watch three movies, get one ticket. Can I only exchange for *Blood Blade Detective*?"

"You can exchange for other movies too, but not *Blood Gun Detective*. That film is special; you have to buy a ticket to watch it!"

Ma Wu's film was so special? But he had bought so many tickets; it would be a shame not to use them. Li Banfeng asked again, "Besides *Blood Gun Detective*, are there any other good movies?"

The audience member shook his head. "I don't know."

"Didn't you watch three movies? Didn't you redeem a ticket?"

The audience member nodded. "Yes, I watched three movies. But I only watched *Blood Gun Detective*."

"Only *Blood Gun Detective*? You watched it three times?"

The audience member's face was serious. "Three times isn't enough! I'm going to watch it again soon!"

Li Banfeng was stunned for a moment. He bought more soda for everyone and waited for the next movie to start.

Half an hour later, *Blood Gun Detective* began. The audience in the cinema doubled, filling every seat, with people even standing! The male lead in this film, directed by Ma Wu, was named Song Chunjie. While investigating a murder case, he encountered obstructions from Zhang Guina, the leader of a mysterious organization. To uncover the truth, Song Chunjie chose to use a gun and "conquered" Zhang Guina. The mysterious organization's number one leader thus submitted, but the number two leader was defiant and began a new round of struggle with Song Chunjie. After the number two leader was "conquered," the number three leader appeared...

The scenes and plot became increasingly explicit.

"Oh my, they're really going for it!" Xiao Yeci said, blushing, covering her eyes with her hands, unable to watch anymore.

Lu Chunying said, "Mom, if you don't want to watch, don't. Cover your own eyes, not mine."

Niu Guangda was very excited. This was his first time watching a movie. He said to his young companions, "The people in Lushui Bay are really bold."

Fang Lianfu nodded. "Yes, very bold!"

An old man nearby angrily cursed, "Scandalous! Utterly corrupting morals!"

A young man quickly tried to calm him down. "Grandpa, please calm down. You were very angry during yesterday's showing and still felt bad when you got home."

"This film just makes me sick!" He Cunshou, the He family elder, shook his head in anger as he watched the movie. "Such things can be filmed directly? How could Ma family's Fifth Brother degenerate to this state!"

He Yuxiu turned to He Haiqin beside her. "Our uncle is truly angry. He was already mad watching the last showing, and even angrier watching the one before that."

He Haiqin nodded. "He was most angry watching the first showing. It made him so mad he almost left halfway!"

*Blood Gun Detective* was a big hit, but Ma Wu only made one part. He didn't want to make a second.

At the dinner table, Ma Wu looked at Lu Yuanshan and Lu Yuanhai and said seriously, "Brothers, we made this film together. I can't bear this reputation alone!"